Saturday, October 29, 2011

It had been over a year since Fen had last been in the
Palace, but her memory served her well as she and Julan made their way through
the finely tiled reception chambers.

“That’s the way to the Imperial Cult shrine,” Fen
muttered, glancing off to the left. “So that means the guards’ quarters are
over here.”

“This place is a maze,” Julan said, in half-awe and
half-disgust. “How do you find your way around?”

“I went through a bit of a rebellious phase when I was
younger,” Fen said distractedly, peering down another hallway to be sure no one
was listening. “I wasn’t supposed to ever leave the Upper Hall of the Palace,
and I managed to find ways to sneak down here and get out into the city if I
had a few coins to bribe the servants.”

“And you weren’t recognized?”

“The only guards that knew me were the ones here,” she
told him. “I was perfectly fine just wandering in the city.” She turned a
corner, and nearly collided with a tall, sharp-boned Dunmer woman in Rose Guard
armour, carrying her helm under her arm. Her eyes were sharp, and Fen felt heat
rise in her cheeks. How much did she
hear?

“We don’t allow civilians into these areas of the
Palace,” the guard started slowly, her lip twisting and her eyes narrowing. Fen
held in a sigh of relief.

“We were just –”

“I’m looking to join the Royal Guard, actually,” Julan
said, swiftly cutting her off. Fen bit her lip, deciding it would be best to
let Julan handle the guard.

“Both of you?” the woman snapped, glancing at Fen.

“Er…no, this is my…sister. She just came with me.”

“I’ve never been out of Balmora before,” Fen lied smoothly,
and the Dunmer’s face softened suddenly.

“I grew up in Balmora myself. I’m Aleri Aren,” she added
in a much warmer tone, inclining her head towards Julan. “Been destined for the Royal Guard all my life, and so was
my mother and her mother. I served King Llethan for many years, and now I’ll
serve King Helseth. Long live the King, and long live the Emperor,” she added
in a rather overenthusiastic tone. “It’s none of my business, of course, but
why do you want to be a guard? You look like you’ve done well enough for
yourself as an adventurer.”

“Er – not so well, actually,”
Julan said quickly, his cheeks reddening.

“What do you think of King
Helseth?” Fen asked, and Aleri glanced at her.

“It is my honor to serve King
Helseth and Queen Barenziah,” she said simply, though there wasn’t much feeling
in her tone. “Anyway, if you want to join the guard you’ll have to speak to the
captain. Excuse me.” She passed them and continued down the hall, the sound of
her boots clicking on the tiles gradually dying away. Fen and Julan exchanged a
glance.

“This way,” Fen said finally,
going down the way Aleri had come from to the door that led to the guards’ quarters.
They emerged into an empty common room, featuring little more than a few
shelves and a round table. Julan picked up an empty tankard on the table and
sniffed it, then made a face.

“Ugh…what kind of shit do they
drink here?”

“Let’s go up,” Fen said,
gesturing to the stairs in the corner. They mounted the stairs and found
themselves in a long room lined with beds, each separated by a folding screen.
Just as they entered, Fen heard two voices, arguing, down the opposite hall.
She grabbed Julan’s arm and they ducked behind a folding screen just as two
Royal guards entered the room, holding their helms under their arms.

“Helseth is no fool,” the
darker of the two men was saying. “He’s got to keep some experienced men like us
around. And they need us to teach those new fellows their business.”

“They’re not going to keep us
around if they suspect us,” the second man said, turning to stand directly in
front of his companion. “Helseth’s power is more important to him than having
experienced guards, Ivulen. Hell, the Nerevarine could come in here and he
wouldn’t let her in his guard. He just doesn’t trust us.”

“Unlike King Llethan,” Ivulen
muttered crossly. “That idiot had no idea what we did, and didn’t much care.”

“But now we have to deal with
Helseth, and once that’s done there will be a new tone around here. Did you
talk to Aleri?”

“Yeah. She said she switched
the watches for us.”

“Good,” the second man said
firmly. “It’s only a matter of time then.”

“Get up,” Fen whispered to
Julan, nudging him. They got to their feet just as the two guards turned.

“Who are you?” Ivulen said
crossly, not seeming to notice that they had been crouching behind the screen.

“I’m Athaso Rindal. This is my
sister Fedura. I’m looking to join the Royal Guard.” The two men exchanged
glances. Fen, remembering Delitian’s words about House Hlaalu, quickly
interjected.

“Our father is a Hlaalu
councilor in Balmora,” she said, trying very hard to sound pompous about it.

“Did you talk to Aleri Aren?”
Julan nodded. “You should tell her that you’re House Hlaalu. Really. But don’t
tell Tienius Delitian. Just tell Aleri Aren.”

“Why –?” Fen started, but the
two men pushed past them and went straight back downstairs. “Right,” she said,
glancing around to be sure they were alone. “You go and find Aleri and tell her
that you’re Hlaalu. I’m going to poke around a bit in here.”

Julan went back downstairs and
Fen pulled the Amulet of Shadows from her bag, slipping it around her neck and
instantly becoming invisible. She went to the first bed, checking under the
pillow and the mattress, then carefully opening the chest and starting to
rummage through. There wasn’t much of interest – just a dull dirk, a few books,
and a dented copper necklace. She was just closing the chest when she heard a
noise behind her and turned silently. Ivulen was back, clutching his helmet
nervously and glancing around.

When he saw the room was empty
(or appeared empty), he hurried over to the bed Fen stood by. She carefully
backed out of the way as Ivulen went to the table at the end of the bed, pulled
out a quill, and made a couple quick slashes on a parchment sitting there. There
was a sudden noise and a second guard appeared, making Ivulen jump.

“Ivulen, we’re on Plaza duty
in five,” he said, and Ivulen hastily swept the parchment off the table and
nudged it under the bed. As soon as he was gone, Fen picked up the parchment,
studying it closely. The handwriting was tiny and almost illegible, with
frequent misspellings. But three names are always correctly spelled – Milvela
Dralen, Ivulen Irano, and Aleri Aren – and those watches when all three are the
only guards in the Throne Room have been underlined twice.

“Fen? You in here?” Fen pulled
off the Amulet of Shadows and became visible to Julan, who had just entered.
“Aleri basically told me Ivulen was an idiot,” he said, and his eyes went to
the parchment in Fen’s hands. “What’s that?”

“I think this is the proof
we’ve been looking for,” she said, handing it to him. He glanced over it,
squinting at the miniscule print.

“Does this mean I can take my
hair down?”

“Yes,” Fen muttered, taking
the note back and folding it in half. “Let’s go take this to Delitian, then we
can go back to the inn for dinner. Hopefully he won’t have any more spying for
me to do.”

Delitian was oddly delighted
at the note when Fen handed it to him.

“This is Ivulen Irano’s
handwriting on the note. He notes the watches when Dralen, Aren, and Irano are
the only guards in the Throne Room. I believe I’ll change the watch schedules
to prevent that,” he added, folding the note and slipping it into his belt. “And
I’ll need to keep a close eye on all three. Very shrewd work, Fen. You’ve
brought me clear evidence of disloyalty among the guards. Now I need your help
finding evidence of conspiracy against King Helseth among the Hlaalu nobles.”
Fen sighed heavily.

“What makes you think I would
find evidence of conspiracy? I have been to see Ravani once already, and she is
just as convinced as the rest of Mournhold that Helseth murdered King Llethan.”

“Do you want to regain your
father’s trust or not?” the captain asked severely. Fen gave him a hard look,
then nodded once. “Good. The old king’s Hlaalu supporters haven’t accepted King
Helseth's accession to the Throne with good grace, as you’ve seen. Maybe they
think that another candidate – a Hlaalu candidate, for example – would be
better. Maybe they have some plan to express such a preference. If so, I doubt
they would be candid about it. But maybe you should search Llethan Manor for
documents, diaries or other tangible evidence of such plans.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Fen
said, and Delitian sent them on their way.